Hey Saudi Arabia – Abstinence only driver’s education does not work.

Saudi report: women would drive to have pre-marital sex. You can tell by the low-cut burqa’s and niqabs they wear.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A report given to a high-level advisory group in Saudi Arabia claims that allowing women in the kingdom to drive could encourage premarital sex, a rights activistsaid Saturday.

Rights activist Waleed Abu Alkhair said the document by a well-known academic was sent to the all-male Shura Council, which advises the monarchy. The report by Kamal Subhi claims that allowing women to drive will threaten the country’s traditions of virgin brides, he said.

Saudi women have staged several protests defying the driving ban. The king has already promised some reforms, including allowing women to vote in municipal elections in 2015.

How would being able to drive one’s self be more dangerous than allowing her to ride in a male stranger’s taxi cab to run errands?

Justin Griffith

I believe in Saudi Arabia, they have an official legal guardian while in public. He has lots of scary rights over her too. Not sure if the taxi cab situation is even applicable

papango

Saudi women do not usually run errands at all, let alone by themselves. All businesses are owned and staffed by men and the rules around segregation of the sexes in public are inforced by the religious police.

Mike de Fleuriot

So what would be a good response to a Saudi male, if you met one at an embassy function, with regards to this. Would you pour some deserved derision on him, his culture and country for this idiotic policy. Or would you wimp out and allow him his bigotry?

You would not accept this type of thing from a Clan member who does not want “blacks” to drive, so why allow a Saudi male to get away with something similar, if you meet one.

Justin Griffith

If I meet any on the battlefield, I don’t think either of your options would apply. Otherwise, I’m not likely to meet any.

I do think that it is important to raise awareness, and even money for women’s rights in arab nations. That’s where the front line is on this particular issue.

papango

I think you’d first have to ascertain whether or not this was his bigotry. Most of these types of things are pushed by the ultra conservatives and promoted by the royal family because their whole claim to power in Saudi Arabia (and the enormous wealth in brings) is strongly linked to Wahhabism (which is very very conservative). That’s why the fight for human rights in Saudi Arabia is so very hard. Any question around the way Islam is practised can be seen as an attack on the foundations of the monarchy, and they just have too much at stake to let that go on.

So, an educated Saudi, presumably comfortable mixing with Westerners, may not be as gung-ho about this as official Saudi sources would have you think. I think if it came up I would be dismissive of the policy. But, in much the same way as I don’t harangue Americans about the mess in Colorado City, or Irish tourists about the state of the Catholic Church, I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to bring it up. Unless I thought of a really good pun, I might not be able to resist that.

Nomen Nescio

trying to change a culture from the outside is always tricky and usually fruitless. one might as well keep any remonstrations at official functions polite, because they’re unlikely to be effective either way; supporting people who are active in trying to change such systems from the inside is likely far more productive.

Steve

Then why don’t they allow married women to drive?

As it is the ban is a problem for married women who can’t go shopping for the family alone or take the kids some place. They always need a relative or a hired driver which is a huge hassle

Kathleen

Since we know that men would never use their driving privileges to have sex with a virgin, it should really solve the problem as it relates to automobiles. It doesn’t deal with young or other unmarried women who might walk somewhere to have pre-marital sex, so perhaps the Saudi government should consider hobbling them. Again, we know that the men can be trusted, so there’s no need to do anything to restrain them.

Tsu Dho Nimh

Would this apply to a woman riding a horse or camel?

Driving a carriage? Riding a bicycle?

papango

Saudi women are indeed banned from riding bicycles. And given the climate and the difficulties of cycling in a burkha, I’m not surprised there hasn’t been much of a clamour for it. They are allowed to ride camels and horses.

It’s crazy, but the religious police have rules for everything. If you can think of an activity, some cleric somewhere in Saudi has given serious thought to how it might impact on the control over women that the religion demands.

Barry Johnstone.

Guess what? I don’t want to fuck a Saudi woman!

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